Mother's heartbreak losing baby son at 7 days old in Brighton hospital

Emma Shemain was “so excited” when she unexpectedly fell pregnant at 40 years old.

“It was a good pregnancy, I was shocked I fell pregnant at 40," she told The Argus.

“My eldest Frank was 18 at the time so it was a big age gap and I wasn’t trying for a baby.”

Emma Shemain with her baby Dio at the Royal Sussex (Image: Emma Shemain)

Emma’s waters broke on July 23, 2022, and the following day at Pembury Hospital in Tunbridge Wells she was given a drug called syntocinon, a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin, to increase the frequency and strength of her contractions.

But Emma, who lives in Edenbridge, near East Grinstead, had an extremely rare allergic reaction to the drug and her lips and tongue began to swell as she went into anaphylaxis, which reduced the supply of oxygen to her baby.

She was transferred to the operating theatre to have an emergency C-section and baby Dio was taken away from her so staff could try to resuscitate him.

He was put in an incubator and transferred to the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton with his dad Bobby Brummit.

Emma said: “I was really disorientated and didn’t really know what had happened. I was in a bad way.”

Dio was born on a Sunday, but Emma was not able to hold him until the following Wednesday as doctors tried to save his life in the neonatal unit in Brighton.

What followed was an agonising few days for Emma and her family, waiting to find out if little Dio would survive.

Bobby Brummitt with his baby son Dio (Image: Emma Shemain)

Emma said staff at the Royal Sussex were “amazing” but one consultant had to break the awful news to her.

• READ MORE: Baby dies in parents' arms after mum's extremely rare allergic reaction to drug

“He said ‘It's not looking good, Dio won't come out of this, he is not breathing on his own,” Emma said.

“I was just heartbroken. I felt heartbroken all week, I knew in my heart there was a rare chance but I really believed and I kept praying for him.

“I was in denial.”

By the Friday Dio was in a bad way and doctors advised the family it would be in his best interest to turn off the machines keeping him alive.

Emma had Dio christened on Saturday, July 30.

The family made the most of the short time she was able to spend with Dio and introduced him to everyone before they had to say goodbye on July 31.

Dio with his older sister Ellie (Image: Emma Shemain)

Emma said: “Dio’s death has affected my whole family, especially my son Frank and my daughter Ellie.”

Emma was pregnant at the same time as her daughter Ellie and was excited to see the relationship her son and granddaughter would have.

“My older granddaughter Beau, Ellie’s first child, loved being around us when we were pregnant, she would kiss my stomach.”

“Dio would have been just three months older than Xaya, he would have been Uncle Dio to my second granddaughter.”

An inquest was held into Dio’s death earlier this month at Woodvale Coroners’ Court in Brighton.

Emma said: “It was good to get the truth but it brought it all back to the forefront again. We lived Dio’s death again.”

Baby Dio Brummitt-Shemain at the Royal Sussex (Image: Emma Shemain)

Because Emma had anaphylaxis during labour, her blood pressure was reduced meaning the flow of oxygenated blood to her placenta was also reduced.

It caused Dio to have hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a type of brain damage caused by lack of oxygen before birth.

Concluding the inquest, assistant coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Dr Karen Henderson said: “Dio was a much beloved and cherished son of Emma Shemain and Bobby Brummitt.

“I have no doubt the pain of his loss from the immediate family ripples out to the wider community.

“I accept that the anaphylaxis could not have been foreseen.

“This is something so rare that all the doctors have never seen it in all their practice

“No steps could have been taken to have prevented these complications.

“Dio was sadly born in a very poor condition.

“Dio’s death was due to complications arising from foetal compromise due to severe and prolonged bradycardia as a result of maternal anaphylaxis.”

Emma said: “I’m lucky to be alive, I still can't believe this has happened to me, it’s just a shock.

“It’s only now I am starting to feel more myself again.”